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Fremer's review of the Anna cartridge

Fremer reviews the $8499 cartridge very positively, but it takes three different samples of the cartridge for him to get there. The first sample exhibited "an incompatibility between the adhesives used and the elastomer of which the cartridge's damper is made." Fremer notes "[e]vidently, however, this problem didn't affect every Anna that left the factory." Wow, what a relief. In the second sample, apparently "some the glue that secures the stylus in the cantilever had dripped." The third sample, after 100 hrs of break-in finally delivered. Fremer suggests buying and using an USB microscope as part of the cartridge buying process.

Does anyone else think this is absolutely nuts? It seems to me, at this price level, every single cartridge should be absolutely perfect. Haven't Ortofon heard of quality control? This also applies to Lyra whose $9500 Atlas cartridge had the stylus affixed to the cantilever at an angle that made it virtually impossible to get the SRA of 92 degrees.
actusreus

Showing 6 responses by sarcher30

sarcher30
596 posts
 
Thanks for the info Jonathan.

It is disturbing that a reviewer has to go through 3 samples to get a good one.

There may be no official standard for SRA but somewhere around 92 degrees has worked best for the carts and records that I own. Using ones ears is obviously required to dial it in after that. It is important to pay attention to SRA and not just expect that the SRA is in the ball park when the arm is level IME.
sarcher30
596 posts
 
Kiddman, Good points. The smaller the industry the more likely this will happen. We are the guinea pigs. What's even worse is when there is an obvious design flaw that the company ignores that is a cheap fix. I've seen people complaining about the same problem for years. You would think the company would have solved it by then.
sarcher30
596 posts
 
Retipping once a year is no big deal if your cartridge manufacture does it for a reasonable cost. Unfortunately most of these uber expensive carts cost at least half the retail price to be retipped by the original manufacture if they will do it at all. If you have someone else retip it then it likely wont sound the same. That could be good or bad.

Personally I'm with Lewm on not spending this much on a cart. I've heard both the Atlas and the Anna in other peoples systems and they are good but I'm not convinced they are worth the money.
sarcher30
596 posts
 
Jeb, .060 variance in length is hardly something to worry about considering the headshell has slots to adjust the overhang. Wiring problems are not good though. The magnets are adjustable I assume. Those problems may have happened in shipping or someone had a bad day. I assume the issues were addressed in a timely manner?
sarcher30
596 posts
 
Raul, Since you have experience with more cartridges than most people, what SRA do you think is the best starting point for an unknown cart? Do you feel some carts are better at a different SRA than others? If so how big of a variance is there?
sarcher30
596 posts
 
Thanks Raul, It's interesting to read how people do their setup. I've got a good system down that works for me but I'm always willing to learn something new. Cheers.
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